Maximise Your Tax Return

The trend of working from home remains strong, and so does the ability to claim expenses associated with it. For 2024, the rate for claiming home office expenses remains steady at 67 cents per hour worked. This deduction covers expenses such as electricity, heating, internet, mobile phone use and depreciation of office equipment used for work purposes. If you work form home, you may be entitled to claim these expenses. Alternatively, you may benefit from calculating the expenses if you have invested heavily into your own office space, which will result in a higher personal deduction.

If your job requires you to travel between different work locations, you may be eligible to claim motor vehicle expenses. However, it's crucial to note that this deduction applies only to travel between workplaces, not from home to work and vice versa. Keeping a detailed log of your work-related travel is essential to substantiate these claims. The simplest method to calculate this is based off, 85 cents per kilometre travelled. Other methods are available which you are welcome to speak to the team about.

Giving back to the community can also benefit your tax return. Donations made to registered charities are tax deductible. For example, contributions to organisations like Fight MND are eligible for deduction. However, it's important to distinguish between donations and purchases. While a direct donation is tax deductible, buying items like a $20 beanie where a portion of this goes to charity, is not deductible.

As more people work remotely, many use their personal phones for work-related purposes. You can deduct a percentage of your phone expenses based on how much you use it for work, even if it's not a dedicated work phone. Be cautious, though, as the portion of phone expenses claimed for work should also be considered when calculating the working from home deduction. Keeping detailed records and receipts is essential to support your claims and ensure accurate deductions.

Maintaining memberships or subscriptions in professional associations is often essential. The good news is that the costs associated with these memberships and subscriptions can generally be claimed as tax deductions, provided they are directly related to your current employment. By claiming these deductions, you not only lower your taxable income but contribute to continuous professional development, which can benefit both your career and your financial health.